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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

JACOB S. LAUTERBACH, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

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of the borou h of the Bronx, city and county of New Yor State/of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in i Boxes, of which the following is a 'specification.

My invention relates to boxes of paste board, paper, fabric and the equivalent. Such boxes are commonly formed from sheet materials and held in shape by means of paste, glue or other cement and are used to contain candies, cigars, laces and a wide range of other commodities. Such boxes as generall used may be o ened, their contents removedi,7 and then refil ed.` In the case of manufacturers using a distinctive style of box with Vdistinctive marking said box may, after it has become associated with said manufacturer, be refilled with other and cheaper goods of another make to the obvious loss and disadvantage of the original manufacturer. I

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a non-refillable box in which such fraudulent substitutions cannot take place.

Another object of my invention is to provide a. box which ma readily and quickly be made smaller as its contents are used. This not only does away with the superfluous volume included in a box whose contents are insufficient to fill it, but als\ avoids the necessity, when a box is to be carried a considerable distance, as in a trunk or otherwise, of stuffing said unused volume with something to prevent the contents shifting and becoming injured.

The exact character of my invention will be best understood by referring to the drawing accompanying and hereby made a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 re resents a longitudinal section of a preferrec form of my invention taken along the line 1-1 of Fig. 4; Fig. 2 represents a transverse sectional elevation taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 4; Fig. 3 represents an end elevation taken from the right of Fig. 4; Fig. 4 represents a plan view of my improved box; and Fig. is an enlarged sectional detail taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing A is the lid and B the body of the box. rThis body, altlmugh itappea'rs when finished like an ordinary box body is in reality made up of two parts,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled September 2, 1909.

4to seal the lower compartment.

Patented May 3, 1910. Serial No. 515,856.

a lower part C consisting of the bottom a havinr joined thereto in the usual fashion the si e and end walls Z) and an upper portion D com rising side and end walls only c. These sit e and end walls c of this upper portion are exactly the same as to length as the corresponding walls b of the lower portion but their width may be anything deslred said width determining the height of the section.

In assembling the. ybody B, I place the upper portion f) upon the lower portion C and then, at each end within said lower portion, insert supporting pieces cl which may or may not run clear across the box and which are referably cemented thereto and the top ofJ whichV is coincident with or slightly below the top of the end walls b. I have shown the sup orting pieces d at the ends of the box only, but I may, if I choose, have these at thc sides as well, or at the sides only and not at the ends. Upon these su porting pieces I place a partition wall u which has been cut to fit within the box body. Before inserting the partition, I lay about its eriphery a fine wire F one end of said wire eing formed into a loop or knotc and thrust into the edge of the partition E near one corner; the purpose of this loop or knot is to provide an easy and effective fastening means for the end of the wire. At each corner of the partition the edge thereof is slightly split so as to allow the wire to lie well inside the boundary of said corner. The free end of said wire after being taken eomletely around the artition wall, is projected outwardly an. formed into a ring f.

The partition wall being in place on its supports d, the outside of the box is covered with paper or other fabric r/ cemented thereon in the usual way after which the paper l1. is also cemented upon the top of the partition wall and against the inside of the top section in the angle formed by the partition and said top section; the paper lz. being fastened snugly to both the walls c and the partition E holds the partition firmly in place and seals the compartment formed by it and the lower body portion C. The paper h although shown in the drawings as running along the four side walls of the box need only run along opposite walls or portions of said walls the purpose of said paper being only to fasten the partition in place and In cementing on the outer paper h the vare tirst removed. To get out the contents of 'tree end of the wire F is passed through said I paper so as to leave the ring f on the outside thereof; to avoid tearing the paper this ring may best be formed after the paper z has been cemented in position and the wire f passed therethrough. Preferably, also, the g top body portion D may be very'slightly spaced from the bottom fportion C before said paper is laid on. To use my improved box the lower section C of the box body is titled before placing the 2 partition E and performing the other just described operations. The upper portion of the box is then filled and the lid A put 'in place as usual. The box being thus filled, to use the same the lid is removed in the usual way and the contents of the upper section the lower section the wire loop f is taken bctween thumb and finger and pulled outwardly, when it will rip the outer paper L around the entire perpihery of the box until the fixed loop c is reached, thus cutting away entirely the upper body section D and opening the lower closed compartment. The lid A may now be used in connection with this lower compartment to constitute a complete box just as it was used before the box body was divided.

It will be seen that the partition E not only serves as a separating wall but also to retain the wire in position adjacent to the weakened portion of the body walls. The corners of said partition wall also serve as braces to hold the wire against the interior of the box body and make it impossible to pull the wire inwardly thereby avoiding ripping the paper g and dividing the box body, By reason of this` bracing function the wire F, when the ring f is pulled outwardly, tends to follow the dividing line between sections C and D completely around the box ripping the paper g as it goes and perfectly separating the two portions from one another.

I have shown my improved box as having only one closed compartment z'. e. as including only one detachable section to be ripped away. But it is obvious that, without departing from the spirit lof my invention, I may have any desired number of closed compartments and detachable sections by simply building up with additional partitions, top sections, wires, etc. as above described. Each partition would require to be independently supported by pieces d and sealed by papers h but only one outside paper g would be required for any number of sections.

For many purposes my improved box will be found useful without the partitions. Thus e. g., abox used in carry-ing candy, cigars, crackers and fragile materials Lgenerally may have section after section ripped off as `the Contents are gradually removed, the lid beingr replaced upon the box body remaining. Substantially little free space need ever be left in the box. therefore, so that the contents are unable to shake about and become injured or destroyed. lVhen it is desired to thus use my invention braces of paste board, wood or other material may be placed within and at the corners of the box to hold the wire I in place and insure .its following around the weakened lines of the box when cardboard in the well known manner. lVVit-,hl

such boxes, also, a stout thread maybe substituted with advantage for the wire ordinarily used, the end of said thread being provided with a knot, ball, button or similar terminal.

Many other variations of detaill may be employed within the scope of my invention which I have defined in the following claims:

l. In a box of the class described the combination of a body having a weakened intermediate portion, a partition within said body, and a wire supported upon said partition adjacent to said weakened portion adapted to divide said body along said weakened portion, as and for the purpose described. ,i

2. In abox of the class described the combination of a body, a partition withinvsaid body extending to the walls thereof so as to loo constitute one side of a closed compartment within said body, and a wire supported by said partition near the edges thereof said partition having one of its ends attached inside the body and its other lend projecting llll through a body wall, said wire being adapted to cut through the body walls adjacent thereto when the outside end of said wire is pulled outwardly, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a box of the class described the combination of a body provided with walls having weakened lines, a partition within said .L

litt) ing weakened lines a partition within and attached to said wails having its edges adjacent vto said weakened lines, supporting means for said partition, and a wire attached to and bordering the edges of said partition with one end of said wire outside of said box, said wire being adapted to divide said body walls along said weakened lines when pulled outwardly, substantially as and for the purpose described. p

5L In a box 'of the class described, the conibination of a body, rovided with walls each of which has a wea ened line, said lines al1 lying in the same plane, a wire arranged within said body so as to be adjacent to each 15 weakened line, one end of said wire beingr attached inside said body and its other end projecting outwardly through a body wall, and means to support said wlre and to resist its inward pressure when its projecting end is pulled, as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB S. LAUTERBACH. Witnesses ELMER G. IVILLYOUNG, T. T. KmKrArmcK. 

